It was a familiar sensation of his consciousness being pulled. 

Qiyu now knew that this was the other party using their powerful mental energy to construct a mental space and draw his consciousness into it.

The same principle had been at work in Teacher Karen’s classroom before.

Although he understood the principle, Qiyu still looked like a country bumpkin when he snapped out of his reverie and saw everything before him. 

Unlike the scene Teacher Karen had created—a plain, ordinary room with simple decorations—almost all of their learning took place in that “classroom,” and they could not see the outside world.

Of course, Qiyu believed that Teacher Karen might not have created any extra scenes at all. 

But what he saw before him was different.

Qiyu saw a forest even more beautiful, lush, and boundless than the Forest of Stars. 

Standing on the bank of a river, with soft grass beneath his feet and clusters of unfamiliar flowers all around, Qiyu saw many tiny insects flitting about among the blooms, as well as winged creatures no bigger than a thumb. 

Ahead lay a clear little stream, where small fish could be seen swimming leisurely. A vast, incredibly realistic and intricate world. 

Is this the spiritual realm of His Holiness Aegnor, the magic saint?

Qiyu exclaimed in awe, “No wonder he’s the magic saint—that’s truly amazing.” 

But why was he the only one here?

Not wanting to lose sight of the task at hand, he forced his gaze away from the little people and looked ahead. 

He walked for over ten minutes; the scenery never repeated along the way, yet he still hadn’t seen a single soul.

Qiyu stopped in his tracks.  His first encounter with His Grace the Elf had been through a copy of *The Manual of Mental Power Cultivation*.

At the time, His Excellency—who was still the archmage—had set an extremely high reading threshold: mental power must not be lower than 50. 1 He also left a rather arrogant remark, roughly stating that mediocrities were unworthy of studying his notes. 

So, right now… is this a test?

Closing his eyes and focusing his mind, silver spiritual particles floated out of his body and began to merge with this space. They were searching for the pivotal point at the core of this spiritual realm.

Qiyu followed the guidance of the spiritual particles as he moved forward.

He didn’t know how long he’d been there, but at a certain point, his footsteps came to a halt.

He opened his eyes.

Qiyu saw a figure standing with their back to him. 

The figure was tall, wearing a blue robe, with long silver hair braided into intricate plaits that cascaded down their back like moonlight. 

A somewhat familiar voice rang out: “You arrived a little earlier than I had anticipated.” 

Qiyu felt relieved: That’s right—it was the same voice he’d heard while studying the *Manual of Mental Power Cultivation*. So it must be His Excellency Aegnor, the legendary Elven magic saint!

The next moment, the figure turned around. As he got a clear look at their face, his eyes widened slightly.

“What are you looking at?”

Qiyu blinked: “You look… so expensive!” 

He couldn’t quite put his finger on it—the elf wasn’t sparkling like a diamond, nor was he wearing a lot of jewelry like gemstone necklaces or rings, but for some reason, he just gave off an air of great value.

Elf: “……”

After a moment of silence, it seemed to have come to some realization. 

He asked, “Do you know what you’re here to do today?”

“I know,” Qiyu replied obediently, showing great respect for both the strong and his teachers. “The theory and practice of beginner-level magic arrays.”

“Wrong.”

Lord Aegnor said calmly, “First, I’ll teach you how to construct a mental barrier.” 

“A mental barrier?” This was yet another area of ignorance for Qiyu, and he looked bewildered.

Aegnor glanced at him. “If you haven’t erected a mental barrier, beings like us can sense you anywhere—as long as you mention my name.” 

“Whenever your emotions run high, I can sense your every thought.” 

A mental barrier is a spell that most mages in this world learn.

Especially when elders teach young mages, most of them have already established one while they’re still magic apprentices.

Qiyu was an exception. 

However, it’s not too late now. 

Qiyu understood.

Curious, he asked, “Do you know where I am now?” 

The elf did not answer. 

“Close your eyes.”

Qiyu obediently closed his eyes.

He “saw” silver spiritual particles swirling around him, tracing some mysterious pattern.

As the final stroke took shape, a faint silver barrier appeared around Qiyu’s body.

Is this what a mental barrier is?

The silver barrier remained intact and scattered once more into spiritual particles. The voice of His Lordship the Elf drifted over: “Did you see it clearly?”

Qiyu felt he understood, and nodded: “I’ll give it a try.” Manipulating his spiritual particles, he recalled the trajectory he had just witnessed.

A flash of silver light appeared.

Shape.

He looked at his elf teacher across from him. 

Though he didn’t speak, his expression…

“……”

Aegnor gave a faint nod: “Although it’s a simple spell, you managed to get it right on your first try—that’s not bad.” 

Although it sounded a bit half-hearted, it was undoubtedly a compliment.

Qiyu was thoroughly satisfied, his mind already fixated on the magic array: “So, Teacher Aegnor, can we move on to the Level magic array course now?”

The elf coldly refused: “No.” 

Qiyu: ? 

The elf: “Next up is the second lesson you’re supposed to learn today.”

With a slight lift of his palm, dozens of books appeared out of thin air, floating in midair and completely surrounding Qiyu. Aegnor tilted his chin slightly: “Once you’ve finished reading them, you may leave.” 

Qiyu’s gaze swept over the titles of the two books closest to him:

*Introductory Literature for Young Elves* and *How to Cultivate Your Aesthetic Sense*.

Qiyu：？？？

The elf had already turned away, refusing to look at him for even a second longer: “If you dress like that again, stay away from my books!”

His Elven Highness was usually so aloof; this was by far the harshest thing he’d said all day. Qiyu looked down at himself in bewilderment.

Before opening *Theory and Practice of Advanced Magic Circles*, he had just finished crafting the Earthfire Dragon thermal set and, to test its effectiveness, had put it on. 

So his outfit consisted of the Earthfire Dragon thermal underwear set underneath, a dark red trench coat on top, and a pair of men’s hiking pants he’d previously obtained from a treasure chest. 

It seemed that whatever clothes he wore in reality, he’d appear in the same outfit when entering the consciousness space. 

A dark red leather jacket, with a matching thermal undershirt and black pants underneath.

“I think it actually looks pretty good…” He muttered to himself. 

Especially the leather jacket—it felt really cool!

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a sudden gust of wind—coming from who knows where—swept him off his feet. 

By the time his feet touched the ground again and he came to his senses, Qiyu found himself back by the little river from earlier. That huge pile of books had flown over with her.

His Lordship the Elf’s voice drifted on the wind from who knows where:

“When you’re done reading, that’s when you’ll go.”

“……”

When he returned to the shelter, Qiyu’s eyes were vacant, and he stared into space for quite a while. At some point, he finally snapped out of it and opened the survival panel.

It wasn’t even nine o’clock yet.

Qiyu was stunned: He had clearly been in the mental space for a long time! 

While he was inside, he’d been so worried—with so much time having passed, wouldn’t he return late? But it wasn’t even nine yet, and yet he’d somehow been pulled back to that exact point in the mental space.

When he had taken Teacher Karen’s course before, the mental space and real-world time had clearly been synchronized.

Is this the power of the magic saint?

Does that mean he might be able to find a way to spend a little more time cultivating in Aegnor’s mental space in the future?

Even though he knew that with his current mental barrier, the other party couldn’t hear him, Qiyu still pressed his palms together in prayer and praised devoutly, “Teacher Aegnor, you’re truly amazing!” 

Then he came upon that huge stack of books, nearly as tall as himself.

Ever since entering the Survival Game, he’d been a genius mage who could master anything with a single touch—but now, for the first time, he truly understood what suffering meant. He’d never known that knowledge could flow so smoothly into his brain, only to slip out just as smoothly. 

He lowered his head once more.

Was this outfit really that ugly? 

Overall, though, aside from this minor flaw, this experience was definitely full of rewards and surprises that far outweighed everything else! 

He couldn’t help but want to share it with someone, and his first instinct was to send a communication orb to Dan Xingyu.

At that moment, Qiyu suddenly realized: he didn’t know when exactly, but his relationship with Dan Xingyu had already grown far beyond that of a mere friend. 

Whenever anything happened, he’d instinctively share it with Dan Xingyu first, rather than anyone else.  

When did this start?

Qiyu thought about it seriously and found it surprisingly difficult to pinpoint an exact moment. 

It seemed to have just happened so naturally—he and Dan Xingyu had become best friends. 

Maybe it was because he could cook delicious meals that no one else could; maybe it was because he was the first to praise his cat friend; or maybe it was because—just like himself—he lied about his age and was roughly the same age as him.

As Qiyu listed them off, it suddenly clicked: Dan Xingyu has so many good qualities—isn’t it only natural that they’d become best friends?

He opened the communication orb.

The call connected almost immediately.

“What’s up?” Dan Xingyu couldn’t help but ask. “Don’t tell me you’re going to send me something again?” 

“No,” Qiyu said excitedly. “I was going to tell you one thing, but now it’s turned into two.” 

Hearing the excitement in his voice, Dan Xingyu smiled too: “So, what’s got you so excited?” 

Qiyuhexiang: “It’s this: I saw an elf today!”

“An elf?” Dan Xingyu asked in surprise. “Have any indigenous elves appeared in your area?”

“No,” Qiyu explained. “I opened a treasure chest and found a book. When I study from it, I enter a spiritual realm, and there I meet an elderly elf mentor.”

From the tone of his voice, Dan Xingyu knew nothing bad had happened, so he asked eagerly, “What does the elf look like? Is it just like in the legends—with pointy ears, incredibly beautiful, and glowing?” 

Qiyu paused to think for a moment: “They don’t glow, but their ears are definitely pointed. Their hair is silver, and their eyes are emerald green—the same color as the emerald crystal coins and Duo Ju’s orange eyes!” 

He originally wanted to add his initial impression—”it looks very expensive”—but after being steeped in a mountain of aesthetics books, he realized he seemed to be getting looked down on by Teacher Egnoor, so he regrettably swallowed the words back down.